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A     MEMOIR 


STEPHEN   COLWELL: 


READ  BEFORE  THE 


AMERICAN  PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY, 


FRIDAY,  KOVEMBER  17,  1S71. 


BY 


HENRY  C.  CAREY. 


P  11  I  L  A  D  E  L  P  II  I  A  : 

COLLINS,  PRINTER,  705  J  A  Y  N  p:    STREET. 

1871. 


MEMOIR. 


A  life  protracted  considerably  beyond  the  allotted 
threescore  years  and  ten  has  brought  me,  in  the 
course  of  nature,  to  the  position  of  survivor  to  a  host 
of  personal  friends  whose  lives  had  made  them  wor- 
thy of  the  remembrance  in  which  they  yet  are  held 
by  those  who  had  known  them  best.  Of  one  of  the 
worthiest  of  those  whom  I  have  familiarly  known, 
and  for  their  words  and  their  works  have  most  es- 
teemed, it  is  that,  in  accordance  with  the  request 
with  which  the  Society  has  honored  me,  I  have  pre- 
pared the  brief  memoir  that  will  now  be  read.  For 
its  preparation  and  for  the  proper  performance  of 
duty  to  the  departed,  to  his  surviving  friends,  and 
to  the  public  which  has  a  property  in  his  memory,  I 
claim  to  have  little  qualification  beyond  that  result- 
ing from  long  and  familiar  personal  acquaintance; 
from  a  fellowship  in  the  public  labors  to  which  were 
devoted  so  many  of  his  life's  best  years ;  and  from 
an  earnest  desire  to  aid  in  perpetuating  the  recollec- 
tion thereof  in  the  minds  of  those  in  whose  service 
such  labors  had  been  performed. 

An  ardent  pursuit  of  the  same  general  course  of 
study,  in  a  yet  unsettled  department  of  inquiry,  tends 
necessarily  to  the  development  of  difference  in  modes 
of  thought,  even  where,  as  has  been  the  case  with 


Mr.  Colwell  and  myself,  the  end  in  issue  is  sub- 
stantially the  same.  Between  us,  however,  there 
has  never  been  any  essential  difference,  and  while 
it  has  been  among  the  highest  gratifications  of  my 
life,  it  has  not  been  least  of  the  assurances  that  have 
sustained  me  in  my  own  course  of  speciality  of  labor, 
/( that  his  views  of  social  and  economic  theory  have 
so  nearly  coincided  with  those  which  I  had  been  led 
to  form. 

This  general  coincidence  of  doctrine  is  here  of- 
fered as  a  reason  for  avoiding  that  indulgence  in 
eulogy  of  his  literary  labors  which  so  justly  is  their 
due.  A  still  stronger  reason  for  preferring  to  allow 
the  simplest  and  plainest  history  of  his  works  to  in- 
dicate his  worth,  is  found  in  that  modesty  which 
constituted  so  striking  a  feature  in  his  character, 
respect  for  which  forbids  that  I  should  here  say  of 
him  anything  that  would  have  been  unacceptable 
if  said  in  his  bodily  presence.  That  I  can  entirely 
restrain  within  these  limits  the  expression  of  my 
apprehension  of  his  character,  and  of  his  life's  work, 
I  do  not  say;  but  that  I  feel  the  repressive  influ- 
ence of  this  regard  correspondent  with  the  habitual 
deference  which  has  throughout  many  years  of  inter- 
course governed  my  demeanor  towards  him,  is  very 
certain.  Further  than  this,  however,  it  will  be 
enough  for  praise  if  I  can  succeed  in  making  this 
memoir  an  adequate  report  of  his  active  and  ener- 
getic life. 

Having  thus  explained  the  feelings  by  which  I 
have  been  influenced,  I  shall  now  proceed  to  give 
such  facts  as  have  been  attainable  in  regard  to  his 


unwritten  history,  and  such  indices  of  the  works  lie 
has  left  behind  him,  as  seem  to  claim  a  prominent 
place,  and  can  be  made  to  fall  within  the  compass 
of  the  brief  time  allowed  me  for  their  presentation. 

Stephen  Colwell  was  born  in  Brooke  County, 
West  Virginia,  on  the  25th  of  March,  1800.  He 
died  in  Philadelphia  on  the  15th  of  January,  1871, 
having  nearly  completed  his  71st  year.  He  received 
his  classical  education  at  Jefferson  College,  Canons- 
burg,  Washington  County,  Pa.,  where  he  graduated 
in  1819.  He  studied  law  under  the  direction  of 
Judge  Halleck  in  Steubenville,  Ohio  ;  was  admitted 
to  the  Bar  in  1821  ;  practised  the  profession  seven 
years  in  St.  Clairsville,  Ohio;  and  in  1828  removed 
to  Pittsburgh  where  he  continued  so  to  do  until  tlie 
year  1836. 

Indicative  of  that  ability  and  industry  whicli 
marked  his  whole  subsequent  life,  and  now  so  well 
accounts  for  the  mass  and  quality  of  his  attainments, 
are  the  facts  that  he  graduated  at  the  early  age  of 
nineteen,  and  entered  upon  his  profession  at  twenty- 
one. 

The  practice  of  the  law,  however,  was  not  the 
sphere  of  mental  activity  for  which  by  tastes  and 
talents  he  had  been  best  by  nature  fitted.  The  study 
of  this  science  was,  nevertheless,  a  happy  prepara- . 
tion  for  the  inquiries  in  whose  pursuit  he  afterwards 
became  so  much  engrossed.  Its  exactor  method, 
doubtless,  corrected  the  mental  habitude  and  the 
narrowing  influence  which  an  ardent  mind  is  apt  to 
catch  from  an  exclusive  devotion  to  the  study  of  any 


single  branch  of  literature  or  science.  His  writings 
everywhere  bear  witness  in  logic  and  in  diction  to  the 
corrective  influence  of  his  legal  acquirements.  So- 
cial Science  is  that  department  of  knowledge  which 
especially  receives  its  verification  and  practical  ad- 
justment in  jurisprudence  and  civil  government  ap- 
plied— the  philosophy  of  Law  being  the  crown  and 
summary  of  sociology  in  all  its  branches. 

Further,  Mr.  Colwell  gave  for  a  layman  an  unu- 
sual amount  of  study  to  the  department  of  religious 
literature,  and  here  also  we  find  the  guiding  influ- 
ence of  his  sociologic  as  well  as  of  his  legal  train- 
ing. A  devoted  religionist  from  earliest  youth  to 
the  close  of  life,  he  gave  himself  to  an  ardent  study 
of  doctrine  and  of  duty,  meanwhile  laboring  as  zeal- 
ously and  almost  as  constantly  as  if  he  had  filled  the 
office  of  pastor  in  the  church,  in  the  propagation 
of  such  opinions  as  demanded  conformity  of  life 
from  professors  of  religion.  His  publications  bear 
witness  of  his  faithfulness,  as  his  life  in  its  every 
relation  illustrated  the  morality  and  the  charity 
which  his  faith  enjoined. 

It  is  not  for  us  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  religious 
doctrines,  whether  to  applaud  or  to  condemn  them. 
His  well  known  zeal,  and  his  abundant  labors  in 
piety  and  charity,  are  here  adduced  for  the  simple 
reason  that  the  portraiture  of  the  man  would  be  in- 
complete and  most  unworthy  of  its  subject  without 
distinct  recognition  of  a  feature  so  predominant 
in  his  character. 

Were  1  here  to  venture  an  opinion,  fully  warranted 
perhaps  by  the  subject,  I  should  be  disposed  to  say 


that  the  study  of  the  theologian  must  be  greatly  in- 
fluenced for  safer  direction  and  better  uses  when 
held  in  logical  harmony  with,  and  restrained  of  its 
speculative  tendencies  by,  those  rules  of  thought 
which  must  govern  men  in  the  actual  duties  and 
relations  of  life.  To  my  mind  it  is  clearly  obvious 
that  the  religious  writings  of  Mr.  Colwell  exhibit  a 
healthy  tone  and  a  useful  drift  reflected  from  his 
economic  studies ;  and  in  these  latter  a  faithfulness 
of  service  and  a  dedication  of  spirit  and  endeavor, 
which  happily  illustrate  the  moral  responsibility  re- 
sulting from  the  sentiments  of  the  former.  To  this 
I  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  add,  that  if  each  and 
every  man  occupying  an  influential  position  could 
be  induced  with  equal  fidelity  and  ability  to  "  show 
his  faith  by  his  works,"  the  prevailing  indifference 
to  the  claims  of  Christianity  would  speedily  give 
place  to  a  widely  difl"erent  spirit  induced  by  the 
attractiveness  of  its  illustration.  Here,  however, 
I  am  engaged  mainly  with  the  prominent  traits  of 
Mr.  Colwell's  own  character  and  the  influences  that 
formed  his  life  and  gave  direction  to  it.  His  educa- 
tion and  efl'ective  development  were  not  found  alone 
in  the  studies  by  which  he  was  so  largely  and  so 
usefully  occupied.  Whatever  of  principle  and  pol- 
icy resulted  from  the  application  of  the  student  was 
induced  and  enriched  and  energized  in  another  and 
even  more  exact  training  school  than  any  that  the 
speculations  of  science  can  afl'ord.  In  the  thirty- 
sixth  year  of  his  age,  fresh  and  full  of  all  that  read- 
ing and  reflection  could  supply,  he  entered  upon 
the  conduct  of  business    afl'airs  in  an    occupation 


that  as  mucli  as  any  other,  and  probably  even  move, 
brought  into  service  and  severely  tested  both  econo- 
mic facts  and  principles.  He  became  a  manufac- 
turer of  iron  first  at  Weymouth,  Atlantic  County, 
New  Jersey,  and  afterwards  at  Conshohocken,  on 
the  Schuylkill.  Throughout  a  quarter  of  a  century 
of  vicissitudes,  inflicted  upon  that  department  of 
manufacture  more  mischievously  than  upon  almost 
any  other  by  an  inconstant  and  often  unfriendly 
governmental  policy,  opportunity  was  presented,  as 
the  necessity  was  imposed,  for  studying  the  inte- 
rests of  productive  industry  in  the  light  of  such 
actual  and  greatly  varied  experiences  as  might 
instruct  even  the  dullest,  and  could  not  fail  to 
teach  one  already  so  well  qualified  for  promptly 
understanding  all  that  actually  concerned  that  and 
every  other  branch  of  industrial  production.  Before 
entering  upon  the  arduous  and  trying  experiences 
of  this  pursuit  he  had  visited  Europe,  and  there  had 
studied  the  art  and  management  of  its  advanced  and 
varied  industries. 

The  settlement  of  the  large  estate  of  his  fiither- 
in-law,  the  late  Samuel  Richards,  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  those  of  several  other  members  of  his 
family,  required  and  received  as  much  attention 
during  many  years  as  would  have  constituted  the 
entire  business  of  many  men  who  would  have 
thought  themselves  fully  occupied.  In  addition  to 
private  aff'airs,  so  considerable  and  so  exacting,  he 
was  constantly  engaged  as  a  leading  and  working 
member  of  various  public  associations;  industrial, 
mercantile,  benevolent,  and  educational.     The  cha- 


racter,  the  extent,  and  the  variety  of  these  engage- 
ments, to  which  he  was  invariably  attentive  and 
punctual,  may  be  inferred  from  a  simple  enumera- 
tion by  their  titles,  as  follows:  he  was  a  working 
member  of  the  American  Iron  and  Steel  Associa- 
tion, from  its  origin  to  the  close  of  his  life;  an 
active  member  of  the  African  Colonization  Society 
for  more  than  a  score  of  years;  several  years  en- 
gaged in  the  management  of  our  House  of  Refuge"; 
nearly  twenty  years  a  Director  of  the  Camden  and 
Atlantic  Railroad,  whose  Board  of  Directors,  in  a 
feeling  notice  of  his  death,  say  that,  "  liaving  been 
an  active  member  of  the  Board  from  its  organiza- 
tion, and  having  contributed  very  largely  of  his 
means,  time,  and  labor  in  the  prosecution  and  com- 
pletion of  this  work ;  in  many  dark  periods  of  this 
enterprise  we  could  always  look  to  Mr.  Colwell  for 
his  matured  judgment  and  able  counsel." 

He  was  a  Director  in  the  Reading  and  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Central  Railroads,  and  for  years  held 
the  office  and  performed  the  duties  of  a  Trustee  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania;  as  also  a  similar 
position  in  the  Princeton  Tlieological  Seminary. 
Simultaneously  therewith,  he  was  one  of  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Presbyterian  General  Assembly,  and 
member  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  After  the  close  of  the  Rebellion 
he  gave  large  pecuniary  assistance,  and  his  usual 
energy  of  service,  to  the  Freedman's  Aid  Society,  as 
during  the  Rebellion  he  had  contributed  with  like 
liberality  to  the  work  of  both  the  Sanitary  and 
Christian  Commissions.     Of  his  services    in   these 


10 


great  patriotic  charities  a  gentleman  well  acquainted 
with  their  history  says:  "At  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Rebellion  he  felt  deeply  for  the  distress  in  the 
camps  and  on  the  battlefield,  and  it  was  at  his  sug- 
gestion that  the  first  man  who  left  his  home  to 
assist  the  helpless  and  the  wounded,  took  his  way 
to  the  seat  of  war.  He  also  contributed  freely  to 
supply  comforts  to  those  in  the  hospitals.  To  one 
of  the  acting  stewards  he  said,  'Let  nothing  be 
wanting,  and,  if  the  Government  funds  are  insuffi- 
cient, 1  will  see  that  the  bills  are  paid.'"  The 
same  witness  of  his  active  benevolence  to  the  suf- 
fering soldiers,  and  of  his  personal  demeanor  in  its 
administration,  further  says:  "Those  who  accom- 
panied him  on  his  visits  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
can  never  forget  the  kindness  and  respect  with 
which  he  treated  the  humblest  individuals." 

In  the  patriotic  services  and  sacrifices  to  which 
the  country  called  its  best  citizens  in  the  hour  of 
its  utmost  need,  he  was,  in  every  form  of  duty,  one 
of  the  earliest,  most  constant,  persistent,  and  effi- 
cient of  the  men  in  private  life  who  gave  them- 
selves unreservedly  to  the  salvation  of  the  Union. 
The  Union  League  of  this  city,  in  words  which  well 
miijht  serve  as  a  condensed  memoir  of  his  life  and 
character,  bears  this  testimony  to  his  agency  in  the 
great  work  of  their  association:  "With  an  intelli- 
gent and  thoughtful  mind,  fully  convinced  of  the 
necessity  and  usefulness  of  sucli  an  organization, 
and  a  heart  warmly  alive  to  its  encouraging  influ- 
ences, it  was  peculiarly  fitting  that  at  the  first 
formal  meeting  which  led  to  the  establishment  of 


11 

the  Union  League  Mr.  Colwell  should  be  called 
upon,  as  he  was,  to  preside.  His  name  thus  heads 
the  list  of  signers  of  the  constitution  of  tlie  League; 
and  he  grew  with  its  growth,  ever  in  the  forefront 
of  whatever  movement  was  planned  for  giving  aid 
and  comfort  and  support  to  his  country  and  its  gov- 
ernment throughout  the  course  of  its  struggle  for 
existence,  in  resisting,  by  force  of  arms,  a  causeless 
and  wicked  armed  Rebellion."  Of  his  personal 
character  and  demeanor,  they  say :  "  We  desire  to 
bear  testimony  to  those  virtues  which  manifested 
themselves  in  all  his  intercourse  with  us;  to  the 
singleness  and  unselfishness  of  his  purpose;  to  his 
courteousness  and  urbanity  in  our  varied  relations; 
to  his  firmness,  cautiousness,  and  wisdom  in  the 
deliberations  of  our  councils ;  to  his  patience,  un- 
wearying industry,  and  cheerful  devotion  of  time, 
abilities,  and  means  in  aid  of  the  cause  so  dear  to 
all  our  hearts  ;  to  his  constant,  unwavering  joy,  and 
faith,  and  trust  in  the  overruling  providence  of  the 
God  of  our  fathers  amid  the  darkest  hours  of  the 
country's  peril,  as  well  as  in  times  of  success  and 
victory." 

Such  engagements  as  these,  and  numerous  others 
kindred  in  their  character  and  calling  for  similar 
labors,  filled  the  middle  and  later  periods  of  his  life 
with  occupation:  his  associates,  and  all  with  whom 
business  intercourse  and  public  enterprises  connected 
him,  testifying  to  the  prompt,  energetic,  patient,  and 
worthy  performance  of  every  duty  thus  assumed  or 
imposed.  Nearly  half  a  century  employed  in  public 
and     private    affairs    making    large    demands    for 


12 

labor  and  care,  and  involving  great  responsibility, 
gave  him  that  sound  practical  experience  which 
well  and  effectively  woven  into  the  studies  of 
his  life  made  him  what  he  eminently  became,  a 
clear,  safe,  and  thoroughly  instructed  economist. 
Concurrently  with  this  practical  training  he  was, 
in  the  best  sense  and  fullest  meaning  of  the  word, 
a  student.  As  early  as  his  business  life  began,  if 
not  even  earlier,  he  commenced  the  collection  of  a 
library  of  social  science,  political  economy,  finance, 
pauperism,  organized  charities,  productive  indus- 
tries, and  associate  and  cognate  departments  of  sci- 
ence, now  the  largest  and  best  to  be  found  in  the 
country.  This  grand  collection  has  not  been  cata- 
loo-ued,  or  even  classified,  but  it  considerably  ex- 
ceeds five  thousand  volumes,  and  is  estimated  for  the 
purpose  of  insurance  at  a  value  of  twenty  thousand 
dollars.  To  this  library  and  to  the  books,  pamph- 
lets, periodical  and  newspaper  articles  of  his  own 
production,  he  devoted  all  his  leisure.  In  several 
lists  of  cited  authorities  appended  to  his  own  publi- 
cations and  criticisms  upon  them,  he  furnishes  evi- 
dence that  he  was,  in  the  language  of  one  of  his 
familiar  acquaintances,  "one  of  the  greediest  of 
readers." 

To  the  commonly  accepted  authorities  on  Political 
Economy,  Finance,  and  Policy  of  Public  Affairs, 
he,  however,  gave  no  more  than  that  amount  of 
faith  and  acceptance  which  they  should  command 
from  a  mind  well  stored  with  the  facts  and  philos- 
ophy of  their  subjects.  To  a  friend  who  expressed 
surprise  at  his  vast  collection  of  books  and  pam- 


13 

phlets  on  the  single  subject  of  Money,  he  replied, 
when  asked  if  he  had  perused  them  all,  "  enough 
to  know  that  there  is  really  little  or  nothing  in 
them  of  any  value." 

His  library,  besides  its  completeness  in  standard 
works,  derives  a  special  value  from  its  collection  of 
over  twenty-five  hundred  pamphlets  on  topics 
usually  embraced  in  what  is  called  Political  Econ- 
omy ;  each  separately  bound  and  capable  of  classi- 
fied arrangement.  He  regarded,  and  justly  too, 
such  smaller  treatises  as  especially  valuable  for  con- 
taining the  best  thoughts  of  the  writers  in  the  most 
condensed  form,  and  likely  thus  to  secure  not  only  the 
greatest  number  but  the  most  attentive  of  readers. 
For  the  most  part  he  put  his  own  publications  on 
social  and  economic  subjects  into  this  unpretending 
form. 

His  judgment  was  too  clear  and  too  well  poised 
to  suffer  the  imposture  of  pretentious  authorship. 
Knowing  that  book-makers  are  not  always  thinkers 
he  gave  his  regards  to  those  writers  only  who  had 
something  of  their  own  to  say,  or  knew  how  to  give 
effective  array  to  the  valuable  words  of  others.  It 
"vvould  have  been  an  excellent  service  to  students,  now 
abandoned  to  their  own  unformed  judgment  in  the 
selection  of  works  in  this  department,  and  thus  con- 
demned to  promiscuous  reading,  if  Mr.  Colwell  had 
in  some  effective  way  employed,  his  eminent  discern- 
ment in  giving  us  an  index  expurgatorius  of  the 
books  and  treatises  upon  economic  subjects  whicli 
crowd  our  libraries,  thus  driving  a  stake  through  the 
worthless  and  the  false  among  them,  numerous  as 


14 

these  latter  are.  In  his  Essay  Preliminary  to  List's 
Political  Economy,  he  has,  indeed,  shown  his  emi- 
nent capacity  for  estimating  aright  the  economic 
authorities  at  their  true  value,  confining  himself, 
however,  almost  entirely  to  an  analysis  and  com- 
mendation of  those  works  which  are  worthy  of  reli- 
ance. It  was  more  consonant  with  his  taste  and 
tendencies  to  select  the  good,  than  to  annoy  himself 
with  the  study  and  exposure  of  that  which  was  cal- 
culated to  be  injurious.  Often  have  I  wondered 
at  the  patience,  even  more  than  at  the  diligence, 
great  as  it  was,  with  which  he  conscientiously  sur- 
rendered so  large  a  portion  of  his  months  and  his 
years  to  library  labors.  His  toil,  however,  was  made 
available  for  excellent  uses,  and  the  fruits  of  his 
literary  industry  exhibit  themselves  not  only  in  the 
number  but  also  in  the  value  of  his  publications.  Of 
that  value  but  little  can  be  traced  to  the  thousands 
of  volumes  which  had  passed  through  his  hands. 
Indeed,  it  is  curiously  significant  that  the  best  read 
man  in  economic  literature  stands  now  before  us  so" 
little  indebted  to  the  books  of  his  predecessors  for 
the  most  valuable  portions  of  his  own  productions. 
Never  writing  without  having  something  worthy  to 
be  read,  all  that  he  did  write  was,  as  largely  as  can 
be  affirmed  of  any  other  prolific  author,  in  matter 
and  manner  his  own.  There  was  in  him,  however, 
nothing  of  arrogance,  nothing  of  the  scorner.  In 
the  whole  course  of  his  literary  pursuits  may  be  dis- 
covered a  constant  efi'ort  to  promote  and  propagate 
important  scientific  truths  bearing  upon  social  wel- 
fare, under  cover  of  such  books  as  seemed  to  him  to 


15 

deserve  extensive  circulation.  To  tlie  translation, 
annotation,  and  effective  distribution  of  these  he 
freely  and  devotedly  gave  his  time,  his  labor,  and 
his  means.  Among  the  leading  instances  of  this 
kind,  is  the  translation,  by  Mr.  Matile,  of  List's 
National  System  of  Political  Economy,  with  his  own 
invaluable  Preliminary  Essay,  above  referred  to,  and 
with  copious  marginal  notes  upon  the  text,  from  his 
own  pen.  In  like  manner  he  procured  the  transla- 
tion (again  by  Mr.  Matile)  and  the  publication,  for 
liberal  distribution,  of  Chastel's  "  Charity  of  the 
Primitive  Churches  ;  "  and  also  the  republication  of 
"  The  Race  for  Riches,"  by  William  Arnot,  of  Glas- 
gow, with  a  corroborative  preface  and  notes,  by 
himself  supplied. 

This  would  be  the  place  for  giving  special  atten- 
tion to  that  long  and  varied  catalogue  of  his  own 
contributions  to  the  literature  of  political  economy, 
finance,  charity,  and  Christian  ethics,  in  the  form  of 
pamphlets  and  essays,  and  other  articles  in  the  re- 
views, periodicals,  and  leading  newspapers.  With 
that  detail,  however,  I  will  not  here  task  myself 
nor  use  the  passing  hour  of  your  time,  preferring  to 
append  hereto  a  list  of  his  works  as  full  and  com- 
plete as  I  have  been  able  to  make  it.  Mr,  Colwell, 
as  his  family  inform  me,  neither  collected  nor  reg- 
istered these  productions,  as  a  consequence  of  which 
my  summary  of  them  by  their  titles  is  necessarily 
incomplete,  although  not  otherwise  incorrect. 

His  labors  of  mind  and  pen,  his  endeavors,  ser- 
vices, and  subsidies  in  aid  of  the  establishment  and 
extension  of  collegiate  education  ;  his  personal  pres- 


16 

sure  upon  all  Avho  were  in  the  way  of  forwarding 
the  great  enterprise;  his  donations  and  legacies,  all 
had  this  one  grand  leading  aim— {the  propagation 
of  sound  doctrine  in  social  duty,  and  its  enforce- 
ment in  the  education  not  only  of  our  scholars,  but 
also  of  the  reading  people  of  our  great  community. 
To  that  object  he  dedicated  his  library  in  giving  it 
to  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  Anxious  to 
make  the  gift  more  effective,  he  coupled  the  grant, 
in  his  deed  of  trust,  with  a  condition  that  required 
the  endowment  of  a  chair  of  social  science  ;  but  his 
family,  knowing  his  intention  that  the  donation 
should  in  no  event  prove  a  failure,  has  waived  the 
present  performance  of  the  condition,  in  the  well 
warranted  expectation  that  in  good  time  it  will  be 
carried  out. 

With  the  like  intent  he  labored  long  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  professorship  in  the  Theological 
Seminary  of  Princeton,  an  idea  that,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  others  in  great  measure  brought  to  con- 
tribute by  his  own  perseverance  and  his  liberal 
advances,  has  now  been  carried  into  full  effect.  "  His 
works  do  follow  him" — the  inauguration,  on  the 
27th  of  September  last,  of  a  professorship  of 
"  Christian  Ethics  and  Apologetics,"  in  its  promise 
fulfillino:  one  of  the  dearest  wishes  of  his  heart. 

What  Mr.  Colwell  intended  by  the  establishment 
of  a  chair  of  Christian  Ethics,  in  Princeton,  and' 
what  he  regarded  as  the  chief  object  of  a  chair  of 
Social  Science  in  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
can  scarcely  be  misunderstood  if  his  own  writings 
be  studied  for  their  ruling  sentiment  and   leading 


17 

purpose.  Cultivating  political  economy  as  a  theory 
of  beneficence,  he  wrote  his  most  elaborate  and 
voluminous  work  upon  the  credit  system,  embracing 
therein  all  the  agencies  and  instruments  employed 
in  foreign  trade  and  domestic  commerce,  and  gave 
a  vast  amount  of  time  and  thought  to  the  literature 
of  these  several  subjects  in  all  their  branches ;  but 
through  all  and  over  all  the  crowning  aim  and  pur- 
pose of  his  endeavors  stands  out  conspicuously,  crys- 
tallized  as  it  is  in  a  definition  of  political  economy 
in  which,  after  reviewing:  the  entire  ran^e  of  con- 
flicting  explications,  he  says  :  "  When  we  meet  a 
definition  running  thus — the  science  of  human  wel- 
fare^ in  its  relations  with  the  production  and  dis- 
tribution of  wealth,  we  shall  begin  to  hope  the 
doctrine  of  social,  or  political,  or  national  economy,  / 
is  beginning  to  assume  its  proper  proportions." 
The  sentiment  of  that  definition  directed  all  his 
studies,  all  his  writings,  and,  as  a  passion,  governed 
all  his  life.  In  religion,  the  faith  that  works  by 
love;  in  economic  theory,  the  best  interests  of  hu- 
manity ;  in  morals,  the  justice,  mercy,  and  charity 
which  practically  exemplify  the  brotherhood  of  men; 
were  the  governing  impulses  of  all  the  works  of 
both  his  head  and  his  hands. 

In  his  "  New  Themes  for  the  Protestant  Clergy" 
we  find  such  sentiments  as  these :  "Creeds,  but  not 
without  charity ;  Theology,  but  not  without  hu- 
manity; Protestantism,  but  not  without  Christi- 
anity." Again:  "It  is  not  enough  for  the  Christian 
to  be  concerned  only  for  the  interests  of  men  in  the 
world  to  come,  but  for  their  best  interests  in  this 

2 


18 

world."  AVith  some  severity  of  rebuke,  but  fiir 
more  earnestuess  of  affectiou,  he  says :  "  We  main- 
tain that  Christ  himself  should  have  the  chief  voice 
in  defining  Christianity,  and  that  this  has  been  de- 
nied him  in  most,  if  not  all,  the  compends  and  sum- 
maries of  Christian  doctrine  which  are  the  bond  of 
Protestant  churches;"  following  this  up  by  urging 
the  fact  that  "  the  world  now  believes  that  the  reli- 
gion announced  by  the  Author  and  Finisher  of  our 
faith  embraces  humanity  as  well  as  divinity  in  its 
range." 

This  remonstrance,  and  its  implied  censure,  will 
be  understood  when  we  perceive  that  he  went 
further,  far  further,  in  his  apprehension  of  true 
Christian  charity,  than  almsgiving  extended  to 
pressing  cases  of  distress.  The  modern  usage  of  de- 
volving the  relief  of  the  poor  upon  the  poorhouse  sys- 
tem established  by  the  civil  law,  he  calls  "  the  stigma 
of  Protestantism;"  and  he  demands  from  the  pro- 
fessors of  Christianity  an  earnest  endeavor  to  give 
the  poor  permanent  emancipation  from  the  evils 
which  they  endure.  He  presses  the  charge  against 
the  Established  Church  of  England,  that  it  holds 
resources  donated  to  its  Catholic  predecessors  for 
relief  of  the  poor,  which  now  yield  £5(),0()0,00() 
per  annum,  while  throwing  the  support  of  the 
suffering  upon  the  charity  of  the  State;  at  the 
same  time  quietly  sustaining  that  system  of  indus- 
trial and  commercial  policy  which  takes  from  the 
labor  of  the  realm  two  hundred  and  fifty  millions 
of  dollars  for  the  use  of  the  government,  and  five 
times  more  for  the  profit  of  capital.     Nay  further 


19 

this   gentlest  of   gentlemen,  this    most   orthodox  of 
churchmen,  this  most  devout  of  worshippers,  in  the 
conviction  that  the  failure  of  Christians  to  exemplify  i 
Christianity  in  their  dealings  with  the  world  is  the  i 
grand   cause  of  the   aversion  and   rejection   it  en-/    [    A*' 
counters,  is  led  therein  to  find  some  justification  for\ 
the  socialism  and  the  insurrectionary  demonstrations  | 
now  so  rapidly  and  threateningly  spreading  through- 1 
out   Europe   and  America,  and   exhibiting   such  a  ' 
spirit  of  revolt  among  the  masses  of  Christendom 
as  is  nowhere  found  in  the  pagan  w'orld. 

In  the  battle-cry  of  the  reformers  now  advancing 
upon  the  conservatism  of  our  civilization,  he  hears 
the  proclamation  of  "  the  fatherhood  of  God  and 
the  brotherhood  of  man*' — a  protest  against  "  that 
notion  of  individual  liberty  which  leaves  every  man 
to  care  for  himself,  and  ruin  to  seize  the  hindmost." 

To  the  almost  universally  prevalent  doctrines  of 
political  economy  he  traces  the  apathy,  indiiference, 
and  even  hostility  of  the  fortunate  classes  to  the 
duties  enjoined  in  the  second  table  of  the  law, 
as  it  is  summarized  by  the  Great  Teacher.  Sing- 
ling out  the  most  distinguished  and  most  popular 
of  now  existing  disciples  and  advocates  of  the 
laissez-faire  school  of  economists,  he  thus  exhibits 
Herbert  Spencer's  "  Social  Statics"  :  "  The  man  of 
power  and  the  man  without;  the  man  of  wealth 
and  the  pauper,  should  each  have  the  largest  and 
most  perfect  liberty  consistent  with  their  not  touch- 
ing each  other.  *  *  *  It  forbids  the  thought  of 
charity,  or  brotherhood,  or  sacrifice;  it  consecrates 
selfishness  and  individualism  as  the  prime  feature 


20 

of  society.  *  *  *  Its  principle  is  the  least  pos- 
sible restriction,  the  fewest  possible  enactments; 
the  weak  must  be  left  to  their  weakness,  the  strong 
must  be  trusted  with  their  strength,  the  unprotected 
man  must  not  look  for  favor,  and  government  must 
resolve  itself  into  the  lowest  possible  agent  of  non- 
intervention." 

Than  the  view  thus  presented  of  the  now-so-much 
lauded  Spencerian  social  philosophy  nothing  could 
be  more  thoroughly  accurate.  The  whole  tendency 
of  that  modern  economical  school,  to  whose  teach- 
ings our  departed  friend  was  so  much  opposed,  has 
been,  and  is,  in  the  direction  of  giving  increased 
power  to  the  rich  and  strong,  while  throwing  re- 
sponsibility on  the  shoulders  of  the  poor  and  weak. 
"If  the  latter  ivill  marry,  and  ivill  have  children, 
why,"  say  they,  "should  they  not  be  allowed  to 
pay  the  penalty  of  their  crime,  as  so  many  millions 
of  starving  Irish  have  already  done]"  "Why," 
though  in  somewhat  different  words,  now  asks  Mr. 
Spencer,  "Why  should  not  the  poor  remain  in 
ignorance  if  unable  to  provide  for  educating  their 
children  and  themselves]"  "Why  should  the 
millionaire  be  required  to  aid  in  maintaining  hos- 
pitals in  which  damage  to  poor  laborers'  limbs  may 
promptly  and  properly  be  repaired]"  "Is  it  not 
for  every  man  to  do  as  he  will  with  that  which  is 
his  own]"  The  new  philosophy  having  answered 
this  latter  question  in  the  affirmative,  need  we  be 
surprised  that  the  miserable  selfishness  thus  gi}'en 
to  the  world  as  science  should  have  excited  the  in- 
dignation of  one  who  knew,  and  felt,  that  it  must 


21 

be  a  mere  pretence  of  science  that  could  sanction 
any  course  of  conduct  so  wholly  inconsistent  with 
the  divine  command,  "that  we  do  to  others  as," 
under  similar  circumstances,  "we  would  that  they 
should  do  to  ourselves"?"     Assuredly  not! 

It  would  be  difficult  for  me  fully  and  completely 
to  express  the  strength  of  the  humanitarian  sym- 
pathies exhibited  in  Mr,  Col  well's  plea  for  justice 
to  the  victims  of  our  reckless  competition  and  our 
voracity  in  the  pursuit  of  material  wealth.  To 
prevent  misconstruction  of  his  severe  animadver- 
sions upon  the  existing  agency  of  church  and  state 
in  the  prevailing  disorders  of  society,  and  to  show 
the  bearing  of  his  complaint  I  cite  another  pas- 
sage from  the  "  New  Themes,"  as  follows:  "The 
doctrine  that  property,  real  and  personal,  must 
under  all  circumstances  remain  inviolate,  always 
under  the  ever-watchful  vigilance  of  the  law,  and 
its  invaders  subject  to  the  severest  penalties  of  dun- 
geon and  damages,  may  be  very  essential  to  the 
maintenance  of  our  present  social  system,  but  it 
totally  disregards  the  consideration  that  Labor,  the 
poor  man's  capital,  his  only  property,  should,  as  his 
only  means  of  securing  a  comfortable  subsistence, 
be  also  under  the  special  care  and  safeguard  of  the 
law.  The  doctrine  that  trade  should  be  entirely 
free — that  is,  that  merchants  should  be  perfectly  at 
liberty,  throughout  the  world,  to  manage  their 
business  in  that  way  which  best  promotes  their  in- 
terests— may  suit  very  well  for  merchants,  making 
them  masters  of  the  industry  of  the  world ;  but  it 
will  be  giving  a  small   body  of  men  a  power  over 


22 

the  bones  and  sinews  of  their  fellow  men,  which  it 
would  be  contrary  to  all  our  knowledge  of  human 
nature  if  they  do  not  fatally  abuse,  because  they 
are  interested  to  reduce  the  avails  of  labor  to  the 
lowest  attainable  point,  as  the  best  means  of  en- 
larging their  business  and  increasing  their  gains. 
That  philosophy,"  he  continues,  "  which  teaches 
that  men  should  always  be  left  to  the  care  of  them- 
selves—  that  labor  is  a  merely  marketable  commo- 
dity which  should  be  left,  like  others,  to  find  its 
own  market  value  without  reference  to  the  welfare 
of  the  man,  may  appear  plausible  to  those  who 
forget  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood 
of  men,  but  is  utterly  at  variance  with  the  precepts 

/of  Him  who  taught  that  those  who  stood  idle  in  the 

f 

\  market-i^lace  because  no  man  had  hired  them,  and 

) 

'were  sent    to  work  at  the  eleventh   hour,  should 
receive  the  same  as  those  who  had  borne  the  burden 

/  and  heat  of  the  day." 

It  is  not  my  business  here  and  now  either  to 
commend  or  to  impeach,  but  simply  to  state  the 
attitude  assumed  by  Mr.  Colwell  in  reference  to 
questions  so  much  exposed  to  debate  as  these,  and 
by  him  so  sharply  and  earnestly  treated.  The  great 
sensation  produced  in  our  religious  world  by  their 
publication  has  given  way  to  much  more  mode- 
rate feelings,  and  evidently  enough  to  a  better 
appreciation  of  their  spirit  and  design.  One  of 
the  representative  papers  of  the  church  of  which  he 
was  a  life-long  member,  thus  speaks  of  the  contro- 
versy which  his  publications  had  aroused  ten  years 
since:  "■  In  one  or  two  of  his  own  books  on  this  en- 


23 

grossing  and  all-important  theme  [Christian  cha- 
rity], he  used  language  in  regard  to  the  apathy  and 
criminality  of  modern  professors  of  faith  in  Christ 
and  his  salvation,  which  was  so  severe  as  to  arouse 
bitter  hostility  to  his  faithful  and  well-meant  efforts. 
Would  that  now,  when  the  mutual  wounds  have 
ceased  to  smart,  in  tlie  case  of  most  of  those  engaged 
in  them,  alas  !  by  a  departure  from  all  the  con- 
flicts of  the  church  militant,  earnest  men  could  be 
roused  to  examine  their  lessons  and  suggestions, 
forgetful  of  the  occasional  sharpness  of  the  form  in 
which  they  were  conveyed."  The  most  aggrieved 
having  thus  now  come  to  acknowledge  that 
"faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend,"  they 
may  also  recollect  that  only  once,  and  that  in  a 
strikingly  pertinent  instance,  the  founder  of  their 
faith  is  reported  to  have  given  way  to  indignation 
against  a  piety  that  subordinated  humanity  to  the- 
ology. "  When  the  rulers  of  the  synagogue  watched 
him  whether  he  would  heal  the  withered  hand,  in 
their  church,  on  their  Sabbath-day,  he  looked  round 
about  on  them  with  anger,  being  grieved  for  the 
hardness,  or,  as  the  margin  has  it,  the  blindness,  of 
their  hearts."  (Mark  iii.  2-5.)  That  it  was  this  sort 
of  indignation,  mixed  with  the  same  kind  of  grief, 
which  induced  the  severity  of  remonstrance  com- 
plained of  at  the  time,  is  manifest  in  the  whole 
tone,  and  yet  more  so  in  the  special  drift  of  his  ob- 
jurgations. The  true  construction  of  his  aim,  indeed, 
is  found  in  his  protest  against  the  ruling  doctrines 
'of  political  and  social  economy  which  the  churches, 
in  common  with  the  community,  accept.     A  single 


24 


sentence  well  represents  him  on  this  suhject,  as  fol- 
lows: "The  social,  political,  and  commercial  insti- 
tutions of  the  present  clay,  founded  upon,  and  sus- 
tained by,  a  selfishness  heretofore  unequalled,  are 
the  great  barriers  to  the  progress  of  Christianity." 
And  again:  "Political  economy,  strictly  so  called,  is 
as  much  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity  as  it 
is  antagonistic  to  socialism  ;  or,  in  other  words,  there 
is  far  more  in  common  between  socialism  and 
Christianity  than  there  is  between  the  latter  and 
political  economy."  The  system  of  economic  theory 
by  himself  adopted,  is  of  course  not  the  one  in- 
tended here,  but  is  that  one  which,  referring  to 
the  North  British  Review,  is  thus  described:  "Fol- 
lowed out  to  the  utmost,  the  spirit  of  political 
economy  leads  to  the  fatal  conclusion — that  the 
conduct  of  the  social  life  should  be  left  entirely  to 
the  spontaneous  operation  of  laws  which  have  their 
seat  of  action  in  the  minds  of  individuals,  with- 
out any  attempt  on  the  part  of  society,  as  such,  to 
exert  a  controlling  influence  ;  in  other  words,  with- 
out allowing  the  State  or  institutions  for  general 
government  any  higher  function  than  that  of  pro- 
tecting indimdiial  freedom." 

It  is,  therefore,  tlie  laissez-faire  theory  of  politi- 
cal economy  which  thus  is  charged  with  hostility  at 
once  to  Christianity  and  humanity.  The  buy-cheap- 
and-sell-dear  system  elsewhere  described  by  him  as 
a  policy  "  in  trade  and  in  society,  which  makes  it 
not  only  the  interest,  but  the  natural  course  of  every 
one  to  prey  upon  his  fellow  men  to  the  full  extent 
of  his  power  and  cunning,  and  is  well  fitted  to  carry 


25 

selfishness  to  its  highest  limits,  and  to  extinguish 
every  spark  of  rnutnal  kindness."  His  political 
economy  was  a  system  of  philosophic  benevolence, 
a  doctrine  of  justice,  mercy,  and  trutli,  with  a  re- 
sulting economic  policy  of  protection  to  productive 
industry,  leading  to  the  highest  human  welfare. 
In  the  appendix  and  notes  to  his  second  edition  of 
the  "  New  Themes,"  he  has  given  us  a  whole  library 
of  the  literature  of  Charity.  In  the  hundreds 
of  treatises  there  cited  and  briefly  epitomized,  he  ex- 
hibits a  breadth  of  survey  and  depth  of  inquiry  that 
one  would  think  must  exhaust  the  subject.  It  was 
the  result  of  many  years  of  labor,  directed  by  a 
zeal  that  nothing  could  inspire  and  sustain  but  a 
heartfelt  devotion  to  the  work  of  social  duty  and 
remedial  beneficence.  May  I  not  here  add,  as  a  re- 
flection that  concerns  the  students  of  social  science, 
that  the  system  of  economic  doctrines  which  secured 
the  assent  of  a  mind  so  fully  informed,  so  eminently 
endowed,  and  so  long  and  zealously  devoted  to  a 
search  after  truth,  is  entitled  to  all  the  confidence 
that  authority  can  give,  and  justly  claims  most  stu- 
dious attention. 

Having  rendered  his  best  personal  services  to  the 
subject  which  he  had  so  much  at  heart,  lie  further 
evidenced  his  earnestness  and  solicitude  for  its  still 
more  formal  and  more  adequate  treatment  by  oft'er- 
ing  a  prize  of  $500  for  a  treatise  upon  the  law  or 
doctrine  of  Christian  charity,  accompanying  the 
ofl'er  with  a  general  outline  directory  of  the  plan  of 
the  required  work,  indicating  its  essential  points; 
among  which  are   to   be   noted   the  organization  of 


26 


labor;  international  trade  in  its  effects  upon  the 
rewards  of  domestic  labor ;  the  subject  of  public 
education ;  the  law  of  charity  as  applying  to  the 
poor,  the  suffering,  the  imprisoned,  the  vicious,  the 
insane,  the  intemperate,  the  dangerous,  &c.  &:c. 

I  am  not  aware  that  any  work  of  real  merit  was 
secured  by  the  liberal  reward  offered.  No  such 
book  having  been  published,  it  is  presumable  that 
no  response  was  made. 

There  remains  yet  to  be  considered,  in  such  man- 
ner as  my  limits  allow,  another  and  a  highly  import- 
ant division  of  the  service  rendered  to  the  public 
by  Mr.  Colwell,  in  an  official  position  to  which  his 
high  reputation  called  him  in  the  65th  year  of  his 
age.  In  June,  1865,  he  was  appointed  upon  the 
Commission,  authorized  by  Act  of  Congress,  "  to 
inquire  and  report  upon  the  subject  of  raising  by 
taxation  such  revenue  as  may  be  necessary  in  order 
to  supply  the  wants  of  the  government,  having  re- 
gard to,  and  including  the  sources  from  which  such 
revenue  should  be  drawn,  and  the  best  and  most 
efficient  mode  of  raising  the  same."  In  the  service 
im])osed  by  this  appointment  he  continued  till  the 
midsummer  of  1866,  when  the  work  assigned  was 
finished  and  fully  reported.  The  labor  thus  under- 
taken and  performed  interrupted  and  even  ended 
the  active  literary  pursuits  and  practical  work  of  his 
life.  His  family.,  whose  tenderly  affectionate  watch- 
fulness makes  them  the  best  and  most  competent 
witnesses,  attribute  to  his  exacting  and  exhausting 
toil  in  the  duties  of  this  position  that  failure  of  his 
health  which  soon  afterwards  obliged  him  to  relin- 


27 

qiiish,  in  great  measure,  his  life-long  pursuits  both 
as  student  and  as  writer. 

In  the  Report  of  the  Revenue  Commission,  com- 
municated to  Congress  in  January,  1866,  and  pub- 
lished in  a  large  octavo  volume  by  authority  of 
the  House  of  Representatives,  may  be  found  the 
special  reports  of  Mr.  Colwell  on  "  The  Influence 
of  Duplication  of  Taxes  upon  American  Industry  — 
upon  the  Relations  of  Foreign  Trade  to  Domestic 
Industry  and  Internal  Revenue  —  upon  Iron  and 
Steel — and  on  Wool  and  Woollens."  Two  other  re- 
ports of  his,  one -upon  High  Prices  and  their  Rela- 
tions with  Currency  and  Taxation,  and  another, 
upon  Over-importation  and  Relief,  are  not  included 
in  this  volume.  How  he  executed  the  work  which 
fell  to  his  share  of  the  duties  of  the  Commission,  it 
is  enough  to  say  that  he  did  it  to  assure  us  of  finding 
therein  the  fullest  discussion  of  those  vastly  com- 
prehensive subjects,  based  upon  the  most  ample  store 
of  statistical  facts,  and.arrayed  with  that  force  which 
the  soundest  theoretical  principles,  and  the  largest 
practical  acquaintance  with  the  details  which  enter 
into  the  several  subjects  of  inquiry^  alone  could  ^ve. 

The  work  done  by  hira,  outside  of  that  which  his 
own  pen  has  reported,  was  of  itself,  and  independ- 
ently, worthy  of  permanent  record.  The  Secretary 
of  the  Wool  Manufacturers'  Association,  Mr.  J.  L. 
Hayes,  an  eminently  capable  witness,  thus  speaks  of 
his  agency  and  influence  in  harmonizing  the  con- 
flicting interests  of  the  agriculturists  and  manufac- 
turers of  this  staple  industry  of  the  nation:  "The 
conferences  between  the  two  committees  (represent- 


28 

ing  the  respective  parties)  commenced  in  January, 
1865,  and  were  continued  without  much  pause  for 
six  montlis.  At  the  outset  the  two  committees  were 
widely  apart  in  their  views,  and  the  traditional  jea- 
lousies became  at  once  apparent.  Here  the  weight 
of  character,  disinterestedness,  and  moral  power  of 
Mr.  Colwell  came  into  play.  He  was  personally 
present  at  many  of  these  conferences,  and  I  am  con- 
vinced that  the  harmonious  arrangement  finally  made 
was  mainly  due  to  his  influence.  This  influence 
was  perfectly  unobtrusive,  but  both  parties  had 
absolute  reliance  upon  Mr.  Colwell's  integrity  and 
wisdom,  and  a  mere  hint  from  him  was  sufficient  to 
give  a  right  direction  to  our  councils.  Some  of  the 
suggestions  which  he  made  were  of  great  practical 
value."  Of  one  of  these  this  gentleman  says  :  "  It 
has  been  in  operation  five  years,  and  it  is  a  constant 
surprise  to  manufacturers  and  ^i-owers  that  so  brief 
an  act,  aff'ecting  so  many  really  distinct  branches  of 
industry,  should  cover  so  much  and  operate  so 
wisely."  Again  he  says :  "  The  bill,  of  which  the 
chief  features  are  due  to  Mr.  Colwell's  suggestions, 
is  -Nyonderfully  sustained  ;  its  practical  working  is 
really  remarkable  for  its  success,  *  *  *  but  the 
influence  upon  our  own  industry  is  by  no  means  the 
chief  object.  The  wool  tariff  is  the  key  to  the  pro- 
tective position  in  this  country.  It  secures  the  agri- 
cultural interest  and  the  West." 

His  treatment  of  this  subject,  and  the  reports 
upon  trade,  production,  prices,  and  national  finance, 
place  him,  in  my  judgment,  highest  among  the  au- 
thorities in  our  history  in  whatever  combines  know- 


29 


ledge  of  facts  and  soundness  of  economic  principles. 
Quite  sure  am  I  that  there  is  not  so  much  of  prac- 
tical value  and  guiding  principle  to  be  learned  even 
in  that  great  storehouse  of  economic  literature  which 
he  has  given  to  the  University.  The  earnest  and 
intelligent  student  of  the  industrial  and  commercial 
policy  of  our  country  who  may  give  to  these  reports 
the  attention  that  is  their  due,  will  find  himself  pre- 
pared for  a  safe,  clear,  and  satisfactory  judgment 
upon  all  of  the  many  questions  therein  embraced. 

Incidentally,  but  necessarily,  intermixed  with  the 
history  and  statistics  of  our  national  industries,  an 
unusually  effective  examination  of  the  theories  of 
free  trade  and  protection  finds  a  deservedly  promi- 
nent place  in  these  reports ;  and  the  predominant 
claims  of  labor  upon  the  care  of  government  and 
the  regard  of  the  community  is  the  pervading  spirit 
and  ruling  impulse  of  all  that  he  here  has  written. 
His  heart  was  in  this  matter,  and  his  philosophy 
most  happily  corroborated  his  philanthropy.  The 
key  to  all  his  economic  doctrines  is  in  such  simple 
self-proving  propositions  as  these :  "  The  highest 
condition  of  national  welfare  depends  upon  the  high- 
est condition  of  the  masses  of  the  people  in  point  of 
morals,  religion,  intelligence,  social  ease,  and  com- 
fort." "The  industry  of  a  nation  is  an  interest  so 
vital  as  to  be  equalled  only  by  its  internal  liberties 
and  its  independence  of  foreign  control.  As  the 
tendency  of  full  employment  is  to  exclude  crime, 
the  benefits  of  that  high  integrity  which  is  the  best 
cement    of  society,  may   be  expected  to  reward  a 


80 


nation  in  which  occupation  is  the  most  varied  and 
labor  best  remunerated." 

Last  to  be  noticed,  although  not  latest  in  its  pre- 
sentation to  the  world,  is  Mr.  Colwell's  highly  val- 
uable work  on  money  and  its  substitutes,  credit  and 
its  institutions,  entitled,  ''Wai/s  and  Means  of  Pay- 
inent :  a  full  analysis  of  the  credit  system^  with  its 
various  modes  of  adjustment.''^  Its  essential  object 
is  that  of  laying  the  axe  to  the  root  of  that  pestilent 
heresy  which  teaches  that  prices  are  wholly  depend- 
ent on  the  supply  of  money;  and  that,  to  use  the 
words  of  Hume,  the  only  effect  of  an  increase  in 
the  abundance  of  the  precious  metals  is  that  of 
"obliging  every  one  to  pay  a  greater  number  of 
those  little  white  or  yellow  pieces  than  they  had 
been  accustomed  to  do."  The  whole  question  of 
prices  is  here  discussed  with  a  care  characteristic  of 
its  author;  and  his  readers,  however  they  may  chance 
to  differ  from  him  in  regard  to  details,  can  scarcely 
fail  to  agree  with  him  in  the  belief  he  has  here  ex- 
pressed, that  "  among  the  innumerable  influences 
which  go  to  determine  the  general  range  of  prices, 
the  quantity  of  money  or  currency  is  found  to  be 
one  of  the  least  effective."  Truth,  however,  as  is 
well  known,  travels  but  very  slowly  through  the 
world,  centuries  having  elapsed  since  demonstration 
of  the  fact  that  tlie  earth  revolved  around  the  sun, 
and  four-fifths  of  the  human  race  yet  remaining 
convinced  that  the  sun  it  is  that  moves,  and  not  the 
earth.  So  has  it  been,  and  so  is  it  like  to  be,  in  the 
present  case,  the  most  eminent  European  economists 
still  continuing  to  teach  precisely  what  had  been 


31 


taught  by  Hume,  and  statesmen  abroad  and  at  home 
still  constructing  banking  and  currency  laws  under 
the  belief  that  in  the  "quantity  of  money  or  cur- 
rency" had  been  found  one  of  the  most  effective 
causes  of  changes  of  price.  Mr.  Colwell's  work  was 
published  in  1859,  since  which  date  so  mucli  light 
has  been  thrown  on  the  subject  as  to  make  it  serious 
cause  for  regret  that  his  other  engagements,  and  his 
failing  health,  should  have  prevented  a  re-examina- 
tion of  the  case  by  aid  of  recent  facts,  all  of  which 
have  tended  to  prove  conclusively  the  accuracy  of 
the  views  presented  in  the  very  instructive  volume 
to  which  reference  has  now  been  made. 

A  word  more  and  I  shall  have  done.  Of  all  the 
men  with  whom  I  have  at  any  time  been  associ- 
ated there  has  been  none  in  whom  the  high-minded 
gentleman,  the  enlightened  economist,  the  active 
and  earnest  friend  to  those  who  stood  in  need  of 
friendship,  and  the  sincere  Christian,  have  been 
more  happily  blended  than  in  the  one  whose  loss  we 
all  so  much  regret,  and  of  whose  life  and  works  I 
here  have  made  so  brief,  and,  as  I  fear,  so  inade- 
quate a  presentation. 


APPENDIX. 


LIST  OF  THE   PUBLISHED  WRITINGS  OF  STEPHEN  COLWELL. 

1.  Letter  to  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature  on  the  removal 

of   the    Deposits    from    the    United    States    Bank. 

8vo.  pp.  45.     1834. 
^  2.  The  Poor  and  Poor  Laws  of  Great  Britain.    Princeton 

Review,  Januar^^,  1841. 
"^  3.  Review  of  McCulloch's   British    Empire.     Princeton 

Review,  January,  1841. 

4.  The  Smithsonian  Bequest.     Princeton  Review,  1842. 

5.  Sweden,  its  Poor  Laws  and  their  bearing  on  Society. 

Princeton  Review,  1843. 

6.  In  and  Out  of  the  County  Prison.     No  date, 

7.  The  Relative  Position  in  our  Industry  of  Foreign  Com- 

merce, Domestic    Production,  and  Internal  Trade. 
8vo.  pp.  50.     1850. 

8.  Memorial  to  Congress  in  relation  to  Tariff'  on  Iron. 

8vo.  pp.  16.     1850. 

9.  New  Themes  for  the  Protestant  Clergy,  with  Notes  on 

the  Literature  of  Charity.    12mo.  pp.  384.     1851. 

10.  New  Themes  for  the  Protestant  Clergy,  with  Notes  on 

the  Literature  of  Charity.     Second  Edition.    12mo. 
pp.  384.     1852. 

11.  Politics  for  American  Christians.     8vo.     1852. 

12.  Money  of  Account.      Merchants'   Magazine,     pp.  25. 

April,  1852. 
3 


34 

13.  Hints  to  a  Layman.     12mo.     1853. 

14.  Position  of  Christianity  in  the  United   States,  in  its 

relations  with  Our  Political  System,  and  Religious 
Instruction  in  Public  Schools.  8vo.  pp.  175.  No 
date. 

15.  Preface  and   Notes  to  The  Race  for  Riches.     12 mo 

pp.54.     1853. 

16.  The  South:    Effects  of   Disunion   on   Slavery.     8vo. 

pp.  46.     1856. 

17.  Preliminary  Essay  and  Notes  to  The  National  Politi- 

cal Economy  of  Frederick  List.  8vo.  pp.  67.  1856. 

18.  Money  of  Account.     Bankers' Magazine,  pp.25.  July 

and  August,  1857. 

19.  The  Ways  and   Means  of   Payment.      8vo.  pp.  644. 

1859. 

20.  Money,  the  Credit  System,  and  Payments.    Merchants' 

Magazine.     18H0. 

21.  The  Five  Cotton  States  and   New  York.     8vo.  pp   64 

1861. 

22.  Southern  Wealth  and  Northern  Profits.     J>vo.  pp.  31 

1861. 

23.  The  Claims  of  Labor,   and   their  precedence   to  the 

Claims  of  Free  Trade.     8vo.  pp.  52.     1861. 

24.  Gold,  Banks,  and  Taxation.     8vo.  pp.  68.     1864. 

25.  State  and  National   System  of  Banks,  the  Expansion 

of  the  Currency,  the  Advance  of  Gold,  and  the 
Defects  of  the  Internal  Revenue  Bill  of  June,  1864. 
8vo.  pp.  — .     1864. 

Reports  made  from  the  Revenue  Commission  :— Tiiose  marked  with  an 
asterisk  published  in  the  Reports  of  the  Committee. 

26.  Upon  High  Prices  and  their  relations  with  Currency 

and  Taxation.     1866. 
27*  Influence  of  the  duplication  of  Taxes  on  American 
Industry.     1866. 


35 


28.*  Relations  of   Foreign  Trade  to  Domestic   Industry 

and  Internal  Revenue.     1866. 
29.     Over-importation  and  Relief.     1866. 
30.*  Iron  and  Steel.     1866. 
31.*  Wool  and  Manufactures  of  Wool.     1866. 
32.     Financial  Suggestions  and  Remarks.      8vo.  pp.  19. 
1867. 


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